Lions In Italy
by wifbin
Summary: World War II was starting. Esme is kidnapped by the Volturi. A beautiful lion tamer helps Edward & Carlise rescue not only Esme but a lioness and her cubs with help from gypsies and the rest of the Cullens.


Lions in Italy

Chapter One

I had grown up with the stories my Mother would tell about her dad and her joining the carnival. Of course, it was always an attention getter in school whenever I wanted to impress the other kids I would say "My Mother used to be a lion tamer"! That pretty much beat out any other stories that the other kids had about their parents. It was always so cool!

It was my mother's 90th birthday. All of her friends and family came for her party. The smile on her face never left the entire day. I made sure her cake had lions on it. Almost everyone who was there knew she used to be a lion tamer. But, there was always at least one or two who didn't. Then the story would be retold again. It never failed to captivate a crowd. I always thought I had heard these stories a million times. Little did I know she had one more that she had never told.

I took some extra days off to stay and help her go through some old boxes and papers she had in storage. This is where I discovered a secret my Mother had kept to herself all these years. The story that she told me that night is about a chapter of history that is getting less known from an eye witness point of view. That's why I need to tell it. Little did I know it was still going on!!

***********************************************************************

I was going through a big box full of papers and something caught my eye. It was a small jewelry box. I shook it and it sounded like it had coins in it. I opened it and there was at least 50 or more of these round pieces of silver like coins. My Mom was one of those that never threw anything away ( that's why I was helping her go through this stuff) I took the box to the dining room table so I could get a better look at them. I took one out to look at it. It didn't look like any coin that I had seen before. I reached for a magnifying glass to look at it closer. It was centered around a lion. My mother was a collector of all things that had to do with lions. She had run away from home with her father during the Depression and they literally joined the carnival. More about that later. I looked closer at this "coin" and saw there were 3 shamrocks below the lion and above the lion there was a hand palm side up. It didn't have any writing on the lion side of the coin, so I turned it over. There was a date on it. It was 1-4-41 and then 3 letters LEC. What? If the numbers were a date it would have been my mother's birthday – in 1941. I took another one out of the box. It had the same crest on it. I turned it over and this one read 1-4-62 LEC. Okay this was weird. I kept pulling them out one by one each had the same thing on the back but different years. My Mother was taking a nap but I planned on getting some answers when she woke up.

I went back to going through the box hoping to find a clue to the mystery in the jewelry box. There were some old newspaper clippings in a scrap book. I opened it and saw that there was the usual publicity picture of my Mom with a lion in her jalopy or sitting on a motorcycle promoting the show. I had seen a lot of those pictures. I went back to looking at the newspaper clippings and found one in Italian. That's strange. I'd have to ask her about this one.

My Mother's carnival act was pretty dangerous when you think about it. In the background of the pictures you could see the wooden walls that she would drive around on with one of her lions sitting next to her in an old car that she called a jalopy. She would open her act up by driving into the cylinder shaped ring and using centrifugal force would drive faster and faster up the wall with the lion sitting next to her until she was driving literally in circles around the center of the wall. The people would be looking down from the top of the cylinder to see her do this stunt. Talk about guts!!! Then she would drive back down to the the floor with the lion and bring him in the large cage on the floor and do the usual whip and chair lion act. She had 3 or 4 lions that she worked with depending on what space there was at each town they went to. Her father was the main cook for the carnival. How did she end up doing THAT? Well here's the story.

It started in Texas. Her and her father were drifting town to town taking what jobs they could find. Usually he would cook and she would waitress. Her father came home one day saying he thought he could get them jobs with this carnival that was in winter quarters outside of town. My Mother of course thought here we go again. Another one of Dad's crazy schemes. They had been in more than one midnight escape from her Dad getting them into trouble. So, she just shrugged her shoulders and said why not check it out. They couldn't get anymore broke than they already were! They caught a ride with the guy that her father had heard about the jobs from that worked with the carnival. They were taken to the manager to talk about the job openings. Well, as usual her Dad had embellished a bit about that there were 2 jobs open for a waitress and a cook. There was an opening for a cook, but the other job was working with the lions. I could just imagine the look on my Mother's face when the boss told her.

" Dad what have you gotten me into this time?" The look on her Dad's face was the keep your mouth shut.

The carnival boss said " Why don't you just come over and meet them and see how they react to you?"

Again, her Dad gave her the look. So they went back to where the cages were and walked up and there was this big mound of yellow brown fur tucked into a circle like the biggest cat taking a nap you'd ever seen. She stopped in her tracks, but her Dad pushed her forward. The boss's name was Johnny and he went up to the cage and said the big cat's name.

"Come on Chubby get up and meet Cookie & Earl." That's right my mother's nick name was Cookie. I guess it was better than Erylene. I think she got that nick name working in diners. I was never sure exactly how she got it.

She laughed out loud at the lion's name. Johnny told her he was the oldest lion they had and was the "tamest". Chubby's head lifted up and took a look. Then he yawned and the size of his teeth and mouth was enough to stop any sane person in their tracks. Again, she started to back up, but her dad stopped her. Just then Chubby turned his head toward where they were standing and started to sniff. He slowly got up and did a big stretch. He slowly came over to the bars and cocked his head to the side and taking a bigger sniff. Johnny told her that was a good sign that Chubby was interested in her. Then Johnny reached out his hand and started to scratch Chubby behind his big ear. He told her to approach slowly and put her hand out to let him take a sniff. Again, her Dad pushed her forward. She slowly brought her hand near the bars of the cage. Chubby looked right in her eyes and moved as close to the bars as he could. She got about 4 inches from the lion and all of a sudden the biggest tongue she had ever seen came out and licked her hand. She jumped back and Johnny and her Dad laughed.

"I think Chubby just made a new friend", Johnny said grinning ear to ear. "Try to scratch him behind the ear this time. He loves that"!

So she got closer to the bars this time and before she even could get her hand there, Chubby was leaning as close as he could to get her to scratch his ear. She went for it. As she scratched his mane she couldn't believe the feeling of his fur. Her eyes lite up and a grin spread across her face. I guess you could call it love and first scratch. She took her hand away and turned to Johnny and her Dad with that same grin. That's when her Dad decided to show off.

"See I told you Erylene, he's tame, see I can scratch him too", trying to show off.

He reached toward the lion and that's when the paw came through the bars at lightning speed along with a growl that seemed to shake the ground they stood on. Johnny pushed her Dad quickly out of the way and the paw missed his hand by a quarter of an inch. They were all speechless for a minute.

Johnny gave her Dad a hand up. Then he started laughing and said "Well I guess we know who the cook is and who's the lion tamer!"

That's how it all started!

Here's a link to some pictures of some of the acts that used "The Wall of Death"!

.

Chapter 2

I looked up at the clock on the wall and it was getting late. If I let her sleep any longer, she wouldn't sleep well tonight. I went in the living room to check on her. She always fell asleep watching TV in her big over stuffed lounge chair. I took a look at her lying there and couldn't help but think how little she looked. Her hair still wasn't entirely gray. I was still holding one of the clippings in my hand and looked at it and then looked at her. You could still see that there was a slight resemblance to the young chestnut haired girl in the clipping and the small little old lady that lay asleep on the chair. She moved a little so I decided to wake her up.

"Mom, if you keep on sleeping" --

"I know, I won't be able to sleep tonight" she said kind of irritated.

She looked up at me through her glasses and smiled a little. She didn't like being told what to do. She still lived on her own and drove herself around town. I was lucky to still have the lion tamer as my Mother. She couldn't hear very well anymore, even with her hearing aids. That is, unless it was something you didn't want her to hear! Selective hearing is what I called it.

She slowly started to get up and I almost went to help her but I knew she'd give me that look that said I can do it myself. So I let her inch her way out of her chair.

"So what have you gotten done while I took my beauty nap" she asked.

"I found some of your old newspaper clippings from your show biz days".

"Oh" she raised her eyebrow. "What year are they?"

"I don't know. They're still on the table with some coins I found."

The look on her face let me know she was not that pleased about me finding these coins.

She went over to the table and looked at the small "coins" and the jewelry box. I knew there was a story behind these "coins." She sat down at the table and picked one of the coins up and looked at it very closely and closed her hand around it and closed her eyes just for a second. There was a small grin on her face.

I interrupted her memories.

"Okay, Mom what are those"?

She just kind of straightened up in her chair and said "Mementos".

"Oh no you don't" I gave her another defiant look back.

"I want the story behind these".

She looked at me for a second and then kind of shrugged.

"I can't remember" she said , not being a very good liar or actress.

"Alright, fine" I said turning around to walk toward the kitchen. "I'm going to make us dinner, and while I'm cooking you will start remembering after we eat"! "You can't fool me Mom, I know you know what those are. If you don't remember what they are then we might as well throw them away!"

She jumped up as fast she could almost knocking her chair over. She grabbed the box and started to put the coins in it as fast as she could. I went over to stop her and she just looked at me. I think I saw a little water leaking out of one of her eyes. I decided to not call her on it. But she wasn't going to get out of this now.

"Calm down Mom, I was just joking. You know I wouldn't throw anything away that means something to you". She sat back down and sighed. She looked back at me and shook her head,

"I guess it's as good a time as any to tell you a part of my life I've kept secret for many years. Go make dinner and I'll share it with you after we eat".

I went over to give her a hug of reassurance and turned and went to the kitchen and made the fastest dinner I could think of.

Chapter 3

When we finished dinner, I got myself a snifter of cognac and I made my Mom her "hot chocolate". I would make her hot chocolate and sneak some Baileys Irish Cream in it. Something a little extra to loosen her lips up a bit. I wanted the whole story and I wasn't about to let up until I got it!

She sat down in her favorite chair and got settled in. I was next to her on the couch. She looked at me and closed her eyes for a minute and when she opened them they looked a million miles away. She began.

**********************************************

CPOV

Your grandfather and I traveled around for about a year with the carnival. When it was the winter time it was too hard to travel and we'd stay in Florida or Texas until spring came. I was getting to be known for my act and I was beginning to be noticed by the bigger carnivals.

After the show one night I got a note from someone in the audience that said he really enjoyed the show and would like to meet with me to talk about lions. It was signed J K Bradley. I laughed a little and thought that was a new one and quickly threw the note on the table and started to take my show make up off.

MyPOV

My Mother would never admit it, but she was quite attractive. She wasn't movie star pretty, but I'm sure she used to turn heads. It wouldn't be the first time I heard about some guy wanting to meet her after the show. Fortunately, or not, with her Dad always around it was a rare occasion that she accepted any of them.

****************************************************************************

CPOV

Johnny, the manager, knocked on the door and I told him to come in. He had an excited look on his face which made me wonder what was up. I asked him why he was so worked up.

"You won't believe it Cookie" he stopped for a second to get his breath and went on. "Do you know who was out there tonight?"

I decided to be sarcastic and said "The King of England, no um Cary Grant?" He said "Shut up this is serious"! "Okay-- I'll bite, who was out there?" "Just the biggest importer of big cats in the USA or maybe the world."

I knew where this was going. Times were tough. The Depression was still going on. Chubby was getting old. I hated to think about it, but I was going to have to look for a replacement soon. It took a long time to train a lion and it was best to start when they were just cubs. They would then be used to being handled by humans and less likely to turn on you. Even with that you can't really work with them until they were 2 or 3 years old. The kitten phase wasn't very conducive to doing tricks. It was a lot of time that had to be invested in "training" a lion. Even then you never became entirely relaxed around them. After all, that was the one thing you never could forget when you worked with wild animals – the fact they were WILD!

I gave Johnny my best angry look and said, "Chubby still has a few good years left in him"!

He just shook his head and said "You know it's going to take that long to train a cub". I got a lump in my throat and new he was right.

Then I decided to use the we can't afford it argument.

He shook his head and said, "That's why I'm so excited. I spoke with him after the show and he really likes your act. He wants to meet you".

Then it dawned on me. "His name wouldn't be J K Bradley would it?"

"Yes!! Have you heard of him?"

I had to think for a minute and the name rang a bell then. I think I remembered reading an article about him going all over the world to obtain different wild animals for zoos and circus'. I remembered being impressed by the fact that he insisted on whoever would receive these animals had to sign a statement to insure that they would be treated humanly and even made the carnivals and circus' agree to put them in the best zoos when they retired them.

"I told him I thought I had read about him somewhere", then I told him about the note I had just received. You would of thought Johnny was having a fit he was jumping up and down like a little kid.

"What are you doing just sitting here? Change your clothes and put something pretty on.

"Now wait a minute Johnny, I'm not going out there if you think I'm going to flirt him out of a lion cub!!" "You know my dad will have your neck if he thought I would use my looks or any other part of me to trade for a new lion!"

"NO! Nothing like that Cookie! I just want you to meet him. Feel him out. See what he wants. Nothing else". "I SWEAR".

I didn't like this but I told him to get out while I changed. I told him I'd give the guy 5 minutes and that would be that!

"Thanks Cookie! Just talk to him, that's all."

I took my time getting dressed. When I came out of my trailer, I looked around and saw Johnny talking to a medium height man that I now recognized from the picture that was next to the article I had read about him. As I approached them, his face lit up with a smile so big and genuine that you just couldn't help but like him right away.

He held his big hand out to me and said "Hi I'm J K Bradley, you're Erylene. It's so nice to meet you."

I smiled back at him shaking his hand and told him "Likewise", and my friends call me Cookie". He was wearing an old brown leather bomber jacket and a fedora.

I guess he looked kind of like Indiana Jones when I think back on it. He was that kind of guy. Full of adventure. You could see it in his eyes. Kind of dangerous, but not scary. He was probably near 40 if not older. Too old for me I thought, but still attractive.

After sizing him up, I put my chin out and asked, "What can I do for you?" He kind of hesitated I guess a little taken back by my bluntness. I guess I was being a little bit forward but I just wanted to know what this was about.

"Wow, Cookie, you don't waste any time coming to the point do you"?

I think I got a little embarrassed but still looked him in the eye to let him know this better be about business. Not the funny kind either!

"First I want to tell you how much I enjoyed your show. It's probably one of the most unique acts I've ever seen."

I thanked him, but then still had that "get on with it look" on.

"I would like to invite you and Johnny out to my ranch to discuss a business proposition I think would mutually benefit all of us".

He had peeked my interest. But I still didn't exactly know what I was going to say. Johnny was looking at me with that PLEASE look on his face.

"Sure why not" I said thinking to add a little insurance to the situation. "Only if I can bring my Father along too".

"Of course" he said. "I'll send you all the details tomorrow. Just let me know when."

I looked at Johnny and we both knew Sunday's were our only day off. We set it up for the following Sunday and said our goodnights. I went to find my Dad after he left and he was glad I had included him.

I received a telegram the next day saying a car would pick us up around 2 to take us to his ranch.

Chapter 4

The brand new Packard showed up right on time that Sunday. We all crawled in and I think we all were pretty excited. It took about an hour to get there. The last bit was a bit of a challenge. The roads weren't what they are now. We drove a dirt road for about 15 minutes and we turned the corner and there it was. One of the biggest houses I'd ever seen much less been in. It was beautiful. My first thought was why would one man need that much room? As we got closer I started looking over to the sides of the road. I couldn't believe my eyes. Was this for real? I saw giraffes in the distance, and right next to them were a couple of elephants and what zebras? I couldn't believe my eyes. It looked like he had his own private zoo. We all three just looked at each other in awe. The closer to the house we got, I could see there were all kinds of people doing different things. But these weren't regular ranch hands or animal keepers. These were carnival people. There were four guys practicing a clown routine, without the make up.

Then I saw the -- she stopped--

MyPOV

I wondered maybe she was getting tired.

I said "What​?"

She just kind of rolled her eyes.

"I was about to edit myself for your benefit"

"What do you mean Mom?"

"Well in my day we weren't so – umm what is it you guys call it – politically correct."

"Spit it out Mom" Whatever!

"Okay" she blurted it out "MIDGETS! I think they are called little people now"

I laughed. It cracked me up. It was her attempt at being cool.

*************************************************************************************************

CPOV

There must have been over 20 midgets running all over the place. I recognized a few of them from other shows I'd been with. Then there was this really tall man really thin he must have been 7 feet tall or more. It was something to see. It looked like he had an entire population built around carnies and zoos. To say the least, I was getting more and more curious about JK Bradley.

Just as I thought about him he was standing in the driveway waiting for us.

"Welcome, come on in. Thanks for coming".

He opened my door and helped me out of the car. He led us through the front door. I almost stopped in my tracks. I'm sure my mouth was hanging open.

Chapter 5

The house was even bigger than I thought. If was elegant but homey at the same time. He showed us around and each room was beautiful.

We had dinner in a dinning room that looked like it was as big as most peoples houses were those days. It was elegant and the table was set with the finest china and crystal I know any of us had ever seen or eaten off of. After dinner he led us to this huge room that looked like a fine hotel lobby. Velvet chairs and couches, beautiful oriental rugs that felt like you sunk down 2 inches with every step you took.

The paintings on the walls were a mixture of landscapes of different lands I knew he must have traveled to. He also had carnival posters framed like they were fine paintings also. It made me laugh to think he thought of them as art. Then I turned to see the biggest fireplace I had ever seen in my life. It was a room all by itself. It had a roaring fire in it. I felt like I was on a movie set. Or even in a movie!!

He motioned to the couch in front of the fireplace and we all sat down. One of the funniest things happened then. Three of the "little people" all dressed like fine butlers came running in with a cart full of coffee, liquor bottles, and desserts. I don't know how they didn't spill everything on the cart. But when they stopped the cart right by the couch, they all bowed at the same time.

Then they all said "Ready JK?" He nodded his head.

He turned to us and said "I'm sure you've all been wondering what kind of a ranch is this?"

We all just looked at him and nodded in agreement. He looked at us and pushed a big red button on one of the tables. Our mouths fell open. The fireplace started to rotate. As the other side turned toward us it revealed a stage!!!

All of a sudden the three little people jumped on the stage and announced,

"Welcome to J K Bradley's Retirement home for carnival performers!! Enjoy the show!!"

It started with the clowns doing a hilarious act. Then the fire eaters, acrobats, trapeze artists, and everything you could see at a carnival, but it was a private living room. It lasted for about an hour. We had a great time. They all came out and took one last bow and the fire place turned back around and there was silence. It was time to get to down to business.

MyPOV

I looked up at the clock on the wall and realized it was almost ten o'clock.

"Are you too tired to keep going Mom"?

She looked at me like I was crazy.

"You better not stop me now. I'm on a roll. I would like another of those hot chocolates you make me."

"Okay" I said getting up to stretch and take a bathroom break.

She followed me and said "Let me watch you make that hot chocolate"

"It's a secret Mom" I winked at her and she walked back into the living room shaking her head. I wondered if she was onto me about slipping a little liquor in her hot chocolate. I decided to go easy just in case. I didn't want her passing out before she got to the end of her story.

******************************************************************************************

Chapter 6

When we sat back down, she leaned back again and went back to Texas.

CPOV

J K asked us if we wanted any more coffee or anything and we said we'd get it ourselves if we needed to.

He looked us all in the eyes and began. "As you know, there's a war brewing in Europe. I know we are trying to stay out of it. But I'll bet anything we'll be in it sooner or later. This guy Hitler in Germany is a mad man. The fascists have already gotten into power in Italy. I'm pretty sure they are going to invade Northern Africa. Have you ever heard of Abyssinia? They are getting ready to invade. I'm pretty sure they will be successful. I'm very good friends with the Emperor Haile Selassie. If he can't get some support from other countries, he'll have to leave and go into exile, if he makes it out alive."

We all kind of just looked at him with confusion on our faces. What would that have to do with 3 small time carnies? Where was he going with all this?

"Just last year I sent him a lioness. When she came into heat he bred her with his favorite male at the royal zoo in Addis Abba the capitol of his country. I received the great news from him the lioness gave birth to 2 cubs. A female and a male. He is very concerned for their safety in the upcoming crisis that is sure to destroy the capital where they are now. He told me he thinks it's possible to get them out of his country into Italy. He wants me to try to and pick them up there and get them back to the states. When the crisis is over, he will take the lioness back and I can keep the cubs. That's were you come in Cookie."

When he said my name, it's like I got an electrical shock. What could I possibly do to help. I was just a small time carny at best. I didn't want to sound ignorant about this other world he was talking about. But I was ignorant. Most of America was. We put our heads down and pretended none of this really was going to affect us.

"I'm too well known to go to Italy and try to pull this off. After seeing how you handled your lions I thought of asking you to help."

I was beyond any words. I couldn't even think about doing something like that. He knew this was going to be a hard sell. He just held his hand up to try to talk me into this.

"Look I know this is really a lot to ask. But it should be fairly easy if my plan is followed to the last detail. I know a lot of carnival people around the world. There are some really good friends of mine who are performing in Firenze for the next 3 months. I can get you there as a guest performer with all the right papers. The lions will be at a hilltop city not far away called Volterra. You will travel with 3 cages there will only be occupants for 2 of them. I'll spread enough money around to make this possible. You'll perform 3 or 4 shows. Get sick and have to return sooner than expected to the states. It should take less than a week."

***************************************************************************************

MyPOV

I interrupted "Mom are you kidding me?" You didn't say yes did you?

"No not at first, then he showed me the picture that started to change my mind. There he was the cutest ball of fur I'd ever seen. Looking right at me with his big eyes his sister next to him. My heart did flip flops in my chest."

"Mom was that King?"

She just nodded yes. I had heard her talk about her favorite lion of all named King. She said she had raised him from a cub, but she never told me how she got him.

"Mom are you sure you aren't making this up?"

She just looked at me and said "No, in the end I decided to do it. I couldn't let those poor animals be slaughtered in some man made hell that they never asked to be in.

Remember, I was really young. You of all people should know how fearless you are at that age."

I rolled my eyes. She was referring to the 60's when I came of age and drove her nuts by pulling all kinds of fearless stupid things that she didn't know the half of. Yeah okay, a few protests, the Haight Ashbury, psychedelics, and hitch hiking my way to San Francisco by myself to run away from home, is a little fearless. But that's nothing compared to going into fascist Italy right before World War II started and smuggling 3 lions out of the country.

I looked at the time and now it was 1 in the morning. I decided to push to the one thing she hadn't mentioned. The coins.

I looked up at her as she was thinking to her self with a small grin on her face.

"Mom, you still haven't told me about the coins".

She looked straight at me and said "That's all about Italy and a very special friend that helped me and a lot of other people too. He saved our lives."

"By the way, those aren't coins they are birthday presents from my friend. They have his family crest on them. He sends them every year to remind me he's still my friend. A better friend than anyone could imagine."

I wondered how "good" of a friend was this man.

Chapter 7

EPOV

I couldn't remember when Carlise had been so devastated. I can't even find a word to describe the way we all felt after what had happened.

We had gone hunting, It was just us men. Alice, Rose, and Esme had stayed home. When we arrived back at the house, Alice and Rose were just standing there devastated holding a note.

I couldn't fathom the thoughts that were being thrown at me. Esme was gone!! They had searched everywhere for her. They didn't want to accept the fact that this was happening. Carlise looked at me with the most pain I had ever seen on his face.

Our Mother, tor all intents and purposes was missing! The soul of our existence. There couldn't be any reason for this. Then we read the note written in the oldest script that we all knew was the Volturi.

"We need your help to secure our future. We took what is your security to ensure ours" signed Aro.

We all just stood there like statues. What could this mean? Why would they do this to us.? We had kept a very low profile. We knew that we had chosen a different way of life from them. We just hadn't thought it would put our Mother in danger, much less any of us. It was incomprehensible.

Carlise crumbled in front of us. We had never experienced such helplessness in all of our existence. Our rock was being shattered in front of our eyes. Our foundations were being destroyed.

Emmit was ready to rip them apart. Jasper was put into a trace like state with the emotions in the room he was absorbing.

World War II was already spreading. But if we could not get Esme back, it would be the beginning of a another war – one with the Volturi.

Only Carlise could calm us. How could he? His life and love had been kidnapped by the only powerful clan that could do such a thing. Not only was it unforgivable, it was unwarranted and beyond reason. What could possibly be the reason? It only made us more apprehensive to know that something that was the most unthinkable thing == Esme's kidnapping – to let us know that desperate times called for desperate measures. We could only imagine what was the reason. It seemed what felt like hours for Carlise to gather his resolve to form a rescue, in reality it was only a few minutes, but the agony in all of us was beyond description.

We had to act, but we needed our Father to lead us. When he came to his senses we all came to him in complete devotion. There would be nothing that would be decided without Carlise. He was our foundation. Esme was our soul, our mother. We would do whatever he decided without question. Carlise would guide us as he always had. We were waiting for his grief to be replaced by reason.

His eyes turned directly to Alice.

"What do you see?"

She had been silent and unfocused for the entire time. She looked up to Carlise and shook her head. What did that mean? I couldn't even hear her thoughts. She was blank. What had happened to her?

Rose spoke up. "It was Aro and Renata who were here. We tried to stop them, but every time we would even try to stop them Renata had used her power to shield Aro. We would start to attack them and the next thing we knew we were on the other side of the room. We couldn't get near them. She totally confused us every time we came to our senses and tried to stop them."

"What's wrong with Alice what did they do to her?" Car lisle asked.

Alice came out of her trance. "I'm not sure, I'm doing all I can to get the image of Esme to see what is happening to her but it's very vague. It changes every time I get a fix on it. They must be changing their minds every few minutes to throw me off. I keep getting pictures of Esme but different places. I'm pretty sure she is blindfolded. Wait – ah it's an airplane-- everything is starting to clear. They must have had more than one escape planned and decided to choose at the last minute."

Carlisle was starring at Alice with a pleading look. Everybody was. We needed to get a direction.

I screamed at Alice. "WHERE ARE THEY GOING? WHERE ARE THEY TAKING HER?"

Alice's eyes shot up and looked directly at Carlisle She said the one word that we didn't want to hear.

"Volterra"!!

We all let out hisses and growls.

Volterra, their city in Italy. Their stronghold. No one could get in or out of that city without their knowledge or permission. The Volturi clan was the ruling class of vampires for centuries. Carlisle had actually lived with them for a time but did not agree with their "hunting" habits. They parted ways when he decided to come to the "New World" to start a new way of life. They never did understand his love of humans. He started his "family" with me then Esme as his wife. Then Rosalie and Emmett, and one day Alice and Jasper just appeared on our doorstep saying she had seen their selves living with us and only taking the blood of animals and not humans. That was our family.

Carlisle picked up the phone and got the overseas operator. It took quite a while to get through to Italy. He was speaking Italian and waiting for a connection. Finally he got through.

"Eleazar, my old friend. It's Carlisle."

There was a moment of silence. Then Carlisle switched to Latin. He had to be careful. There could be many ears listening. The conversation was very short. He hung up and his head hung down with sorrow when he looked back up there was great pain in his face.

"Eleazar could not speak freely. But it's what he didn't say that worries me."

I heard his thoughts and agreed with him.

Emmett was almost jumping out of his skin wanting to know when we were leaving for Italy he was about to run and get his bag packed when Carlisle stopped him.

"I will have to go myself. That's what they want."

The others protested loudly all at once.

I could read his mind and knew he was right. This had to be handled delicately. If we went in there trying to fight we would all be killed. But I couldn't let him go alone. He could use my help more than the others.

I would have to convince him that he needed my help.

Alice could see the future without being with us. She would let us know if anything changed. That raised the biggest question that wasn't answered.

"Carlisle, did you find out what they want from us? Carlisle nodded but I could tell the real reason for them to take Esme hostage would not be revealed until we got there.

"They want me to help them. It has something to do with the impending war that is breaking out all over Europe. Eleazar, couldn't get detailed but they are expecting me. I must get ready to go. Rose, get on the phone and start making my travel plans to Italy.

"Get me to Firenze the fastest way possible." Rose picked up the phone and started the preparations. Carlisle stopped when he heard her say 6 reservations for the flight.

"No Rose, I have to do this by myself. It's too dangerous for all of you to go there. I know what I'm walking into. Have you all forgotten my time that I spent with the Volturi?

I needed to be alone with Carlisle. Far enough away so the others couldn't hear us. I told Carlisle I would drive him to the airport to catch his first flight to New York. That would give me time to convince him that I should be with him. I secretly went and threw some things in a bag. It wasn't hard to get them to the car without being noticed.

Just then Alice appeared by the car. She was straining hard to see the future and the outcome. She shook her head and looked up at me.

"I know you're going with him. I've already seen the two of you on the plane. I just can't see much of anything else. They keep changing their minds at every step. The one thing that keeps flashing in my visions are lions! What could that mean?"

My head snapped up to look at her.

"Lions, in Italy?" She's finally gone around the bend I thought to myself. She looked back at me with almost a agreed look that she must be crazy.

"I don't know Edward, I can't tell you what it means. I'll keep at this until something becomes clearer. Just take care of Carlisle. I've never seen him this upset. I'm glad you're going to be with him. Stay tuned to me. I'll try to communicate what I see the moment anything changes. Do you think you can hear me with such a distance?"

"Alice, I'm very tuned into you. I don't think there will be a problem. I'll let you know the minute we get to Italy to let everyone know where we can be reached. You'll probably know where we'll be before we do. You staying here will be a comfort to the others. You know I would give my existence or anything else I have to save Esme. Our whole family would fall apart if something happened to her. I will do whatever I have to to bring her back to us. Try to keep the others from following us. We'll let you know if we need help. For now this is best."

"I know", Alice hung her head, then hugged me and ran back inside.

We were on our way within the hour. At first Carlisle refused to let me accompany him. I told him I wasn't going to let him do this by himself. My mind reading would be of great use in rescuing Esme. He thought for awhile and had to agree but it saddened him to have to involve any of his children in this mess.

The decision was already out of his hands. We were on our way to whatever destiny this showdown with the most powerful of all of our kind was throwing us into. I laughed at my thoughts as I remembered Alice's vision. We were headed into the lions den!!

Chapter 8

CPOV

Things were being arranged quickly. I had got a passport and all kinds of papers that I never even had to sign. J K had everything in motion.

I felt like I was in a whirlwind for the next couple of weeks. He had me fitted for some of the most expensive dresses and costumes I'd ever worn or seen. It was all kind of fairy tale when I think back. It would all become too real in just a few short weeks.

It was October and as J K had predicted the Italians invaded Abyssinia. There was a lot of bloodshed. The Emperor had fought as hard as he could. But they were helpless against the Italian army. There is even a famous picture of the Emperor himself standing in front of an Italian tank holding a spear. J K had sent it to me. It wasn't given much newspaper space. I think I found it on the second page. After that he was exiled from his country. No one knew were he was. J K assured me that he had made it out alive. I had done some research at the library. I read all I could find about this fearless Emperor. I liked his spirit. He seemed to be well liked by the people of his country. I was realizing there was a lot more happening in the world than the average American was paying any attention to.

It was almost time to leave. It was almost the first week of November. I was going to fly into France. Another first for me. The lions and their cages had already gone ahead on a freighter along with my jalopy and motordrome.

Once I landed in France, I would go by train to Nice. Then by boat to Livorno.

One of J K's friends from the carnival would meet me at the boat and we would drive to Firenze. It was really exciting and scary at the same time.

All went well. It seemed every time I got to one destination there was someone there to help me to the next. J K had kept his promise. I was well taken care of.

When I arrived at Livorno, I saw a very big man with a huge mustache that seemed to recognize me right away. He bowed from the waist and then he came up and gave me the biggest hug I think I've ever gotten. He had eyes that were so dark brown they almost looked black. But they sparkled like he had a secret that no one would ever find out. After he put me down he shook my hand almost off my wrist.

With a very thick Italian accent he said , "You must be "The Cookie, they call me Niccolo".

"Nice to meet you Niccolo".

"You are this woman who drives with the lions?"

"Yes that's me". I was about to laugh but I stopped because I didn't want to offend him. After all I was the foreigner here. I asked him if the lions, my motordrome, and jalopy had arrived. He said they were already in Firenze and my lions were happy and the motordrome, was almost put together. He got my luggage and took me to the car and off we went. It already seemed like I was in a movie. But I kept pinching myself to let myself know I was awake and this was really happening.

It took about an hour to get to Firenze and it was dark. I wished I could have seen the Italian countryside, but I'd have to wait until the morning.

Niccolo told me he was one of 6 sons of the owner of the carnival. All boys. They were all in various acts in the carnival. Acrobats, clowns, riggers (people that put up the big tents that carnivals were held in those days, strong men, horse back acrobats, trapeze artists. If it was a carnival act or anything to do with a carnival, his family was involved in it. He told me about his father. Rico, the head of the family. He was a gypsy. A Romani as Niccoli described their family. I wasn't quite sure what the difference was. But I could tell he was proud of the name. I asked about his mother. Her name was Rachel and she was Jewish. She loved her children and they loved her. Niccolo told me because of the current government, she had to leave the family. She was at an unknown location. They were waiting to join her, or bring her back depending on the next few months. He told me they were all worried about being half Jewish, and the consequences that could happen. But they were ready at a moments notice to pack up and save their selves. I already felt a great deal of respect and excitement about meeting the rest of his family. All carnival people protected each other. We were a crazy group of misfits, but we took care of our own. It was a unbroken bond that I'm sure is still part of that life.

Chapter 9

EPOV

We had been in Firenze for over a week. We were staying at Sofitel Firenze. It was close enough to Volterra to be able to run there in minutes. Alice had told me we needed to stay at this hotel. She wasn't sure why yet but we didn't question her.

We had met with Eleazar twice in between the two cities. He told us that Esme was safe and unharmed. He had done his best to find out what Aros and Caius were planning. He told us there was much activity inside their stronghold. It seemed they were about to make a move.

I wondered why after centuries they were going to uproot themselves. Our only conclusion was the impending war. But why? They had gone through the first World War without leaving. Eleazar had a theory. The weapons from the last war were bad enough, but this war was getting more sophisticated. Flame throwers had made all of us a little unsettled. Also we had heard rumors about an atomic bomb. It was only in a experimental stage but enough to give all of us pause.

Eleazar confirmed my thoughts. They were getting ready to relocate to a more neutral area of the world. We still didn't – couldn't understand why they had involved us.

Eleazar had given this some thought too. He told Carlisle that he was still a favorite of the three heads of this vampire monarchy. They had always been disappointed in Carlisle's rejection of their ways. He loved humans. They still didn't understand his compassion towards them. Maybe it was his "vegetarian" diet, only drinking the blood of animals, that gave him, and now us, our respect for human life not to mention our golden eyes. All others of our kind that fed on humans had distinctive red to their eyes.

Whatever it was that they wanted from him, they weren't ready to act on it yet. They kept us dangling. It was maddening. I read everyone's thoughts I came in contact with. I had to get to the bottom of this. So far nothing.

Alice was still in contact with me. She still was in a state of confusion. She also told us that she saw Esme as being fine and seemingly well taken care of. It was a constant relief to us both. But we were on edge, tightly wound, always on alert.

She said things would be in place in 3 days. It was agony to wait, but it was also knowing that this would be over soon – one way or the other. Alice still kept the thought of lions coming at me. She's really getting on my nerves with this. The only lions here were statues.

Chapter 10

CPOV

It was early in the morning when we arrived at Firenze. I didn't know what to expect. I was thinking gypsy wagons and straw beds. I was surprised when we pulled up to a very elegant hotel.

Niccoli laughed at the look on my face. "You think we were take you to barn? The Cookie gets the best hotel! J K would never let you sleep in barn"!

I laughed and kind of let the breath out I was holding. It was a beautiful hotel. It was called Sofitel Firenze. Niccolo told me it used to be a palace in the 17th century. It was grand and very old. I fell in love with it the minute I walked into the lobby.

Niccoli spoke quickly to the porter and he quickly picked up my luggage and I was led to the old elevator. Just before the door closed I noticed two men looking at me very curiously. They were both very striking in their own way. One was a little older with blond hair and a very intense face but very kind. The other one was a little younger, but then I looked at his eyes. They both seemed to have the same color eyes. They were almost gold. Kind of topaz. Or even like a tiger eye stone. Both very pale. They were not Italian. There was no way they had the olive tones in their skin color that every one else had. I was thinking maybe English. What did I know. I just knew they were different from everyone else I had seen since my arrival in Italy. Probably English, I thought. They were too pale. But very handsome. The elevator door closed before I could try to figure who they were and what they were doing there. I had much more important things to think about. I put them in the back of my mind, and concentrated on the next step in the plan.

I was exhausted. I'm not sure how long I'd been awake, or how many time zones I had crossed. All I saw when the porter opened the door was a bed with my name on it. Niccoli told me to sleep as long as I needed to. I wasn't supposed to perform until the day after tomorrow. He wrote down a phone number for me to call when I had gotten enough sleep. He wanted to take me out to check my motordrome to make sure it was exactly the way I needed it to be. Trust me I would never go up on that wall without knowing it was safe.

I went to bed. I'm not sure what time I woke up. When I did, it was either sunset or sunrise. I was really disoriented. I picked up the phone by the bed and asked what time it was. I heard "Escuse?"

Oh – maybe I should of learned a little Italian before I left the good old USA. Another sign of arrogance, Didn't everyone speak English? Well, whatever time it was I was hungry.

I went into the bathroom and took a quick bath, got dressed and went down to the dinning room. Before I went down to the lobby, I finally got the front desk to connect me with the number that Niccoli left me. He answered on the 3rd ring. I was happy to finally be understood. He told me it was 5 in the evening. He said he would be there to pick me up in an hour. Go ahead and get something to eat and he would take me to his family's carnival when I was through with my dinner.

I started to tell him about the communication problem, and he said no need to worry he had already told the staff to give me the best food on the menu. I told him thanks and I'd see him soon.

I took the elevator down to the lobby. I was surprised to see so many military uniforms there. It made me nervous because I knew what I was about to do could possibly get me in big trouble. I immediately dismissed my fears. After all, J K had assured me everything was handled. Again my youthful lack of fear took over and my adventure side made sure that I pushed the fear into the corner of my mind that had no experience with danger.

I walked into the dinning area and was greeted by my waiter Giovanni.

Chapter 11

EPOV

We were just getting back from one of our surveillance trips from Volterra. We had acquired a nondescript Italian car. It was against my nature to drive such a slow vehicle, but Carlisle insisted on not drawing attention to ourselves.

We arrived back at the hotel just before dawn. We were just getting to the elevator when I saw a young girl who did not fit into this place. She had dark chestnut hair, and she was wearing trousers!! It was not that uncommon now in the States, but here in Italy it wasn't something you would ever see. She had hazel eyes that looked right at me. I immediately tried to read her mind to find out more. There was something -- but nothing was clear. It's like she had a filter on her thoughts. I had never encountered anybody that I couldn't read. Wait – there was something. I saw a stripped down Austin Healy and what – Lions? The door closed and I looked at Carlisle. I spoke so only he could hear. I told him what I saw and he wanted to know more. I couldn't tell him anything else.

I quickly contacted Alice by phone when we got to our room. I told her about the girl. I could almost see her jumping up and down. She said "That''s it Edward, I see her clearly. I can't tell you yet but it seems you are going to a carnival to see her. Stay close to her. She is the key. You need to find out more about her."

We spoke a little longer and she told me to stay alert. Things would move quickly now.

Chapter 12

CPOV

The waiter bowed deeply and said Niccoli had taken care of everything. I smiled and let Giovanni seat me at a table by the fireplace. He asked me what I wanted to drink. I said a Coke a Cola. He looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. I guess I was. He suggested a glass of Chianti. What did I know. I was a kid from Nebraska. "Sure, when in Rome."

He looked at me kind of strange. And said, "This is Firenze"!

I told him it was a joke. He laughed and rolled his eyes like I was nuts.

He brought me a glass of wine. I suddenly understood. I had only drank twice in my life. Both times I didn't like it. Right – okay – I'll give it a try. I took a small sip. Wow. I'd never tasted anything so delicious. He brought fresh bread with this fresh tomato sauce to dip it into. Then he brought this fresh cheese and a green leaf that he told me was called basil and large chunks of more fresh tomatoes. I had never tasted anything so good.

I was feeling definitely satisfied when I was interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see a Italian soldier standing there. I stiffened slightly but saw Giovanni coming with my next course, and decided to let him handle it.

Giovanni, bowed from the waste and said "Buona Sera Capitan Dellano".

I didn't understand a thing they were saying after that. I guess I looked a little perplexed, but I told my self to not look afraid, just aloof. Like a movie star or something. I'm not sure I accomplished that but before I knew it, there he was. The same handsome man I had seen when I was getting on the elevator. He spoke Italian to both of them. I had no idea what was being said. I had the distinct impression he was saving me. It wouldn't be the last time.

After a few more exchanges the Italian soldier bowed and walked away. I saw Giovanni's face relax like he had just avoided a disaster.

I looked at the tall pale young man in front of me. He was the most handsome man I had ever laid my eyes on. I wondered if he was a movie star. But I spent most of my spare time at the movies and I had never seen him. He was taking me in at the same time I was looking at him. He kind of cleared his throat and said in the most beautiful voice I had ever heard.

"Hello, my name is Edward Cullen, I hope you didn't mind me interfering. It looked like you needed some assistance." I couldn't speak for a minute. He just continued to look at me with a half of a smile and a raised eyebrow. I shook my head to come back to reality.

"Thank you", I said but I wasn't sure why. I introduced myself using my real name. I'm not sure why. I think because he seemed so proper.

He was probably close to 6' 2" very tall for those days. Especially in Italy. His hair was the most incredible shade of bronze. Not red not blond but bronze. He was in a very well tailored suit. It showed off his physique. He was very well proportioned. That's the way we would say things about men in that day. I think you might say he was "built". But he was a gentleman. You could tell by his manner. His speech reminded me of my Grandfather. But his voice was almost like he was singing when he spoke. He was American, but also there was something I couldn't put my finger on. Just different. His eyes, I'll never forget those eyes. They were even more gold up close. I remembered them from last night when I was looking at him from the elevator. But up close. You could just feel the intelligence, the deep thoughts going on behind those eyes, and something else maybe sadness, maybe loneliness. What ever it was, I couldn't look away from those eyes.

He cleared his throat. I snapped out of it. He asked if he could join me for a moment and I said sure! When he sat down I got a whiff of something wonderful. His scent was like everything wonderful I had ever smelled. I shook my head again trying to focus. I looked at the small vase of flowers on the table thinking that must be the source of the heavenly fragrance. There was one gardenia in the middle of the bouquet. It was my favorite. I picked it up and brought it to my nose. I picked my napkin up to dry it off and stuck it in my hair behind my ear. Chubby loved all flowers, but we both had gardenias as our favorite. I couldn't wait to see him put his big nose up to it and sniff all the petals off.

He watched me with a small grin and spoke, "I hope I'm not interrupting your dinner. I was just on my way out and I saw that Giovanni seemed to be having a problem with the Captain.

Just then Giovanni came over to check on me and talked so fast to Mr Cullen in Italian I wondered if even he could understand. He seemed to calm Giovanni down and Giovanni thanked him again and again.

Now I was curious what had happened. I looked at him and he knew what I was going to ask. He ran his hand through his hair and leaned his chin on his hand.

"I guess I should let you in on what just happened."

I nodded my head, hoping I wasn't going to some Italian prison for something I didn't even know that I did.

He looked at me and chuckled a little. I started to get a little annoyed at this point thinking he thought I was out of my element. I quickly checked myself because, truth be known, I was.

He looked at me with those eyes for a long minute as if he was deciding to get up and leave or continue the conversation. I gave him a look that must of convinced him to stay. I guess I did need some help. He had a slightly confused look on his face.

He leaned back in his chair and kind of shook his head and did that half smile again. He began.

"So what brings you to Italy?"

I hesitated, but began to tell him what I could. I told him why I was here. At least, I told him the official version. I was here to perform with the carnival in town. He raised that eyebrow again.

"You do what with lions?" He kept shaking his head and running his fingers through that hair of his.

"How did you ever end up doing that for a living?" I ran through my carnival history for him and I could tell he could hardly believe me.

"What in the world would bring you to this part of the world from America?"

I told him that I got an offer I couldn't refuse!

***************************************************************

I stopped her with a scowl. "What? You did not say that Mom. Don't go all Godfather on me now. Stick to the story."

"You're no fun, let me tell my story the way I want to or I'll stop and go to bed." I was afraid to look at the time. I knew it was really late. But as long as she would talk, I'd let her go on.

Just as she started again, I let a picture of Edward form in my mind. Then something flashed in my mind about gold eyes and bronze hair. Had I seen him? That would be as impossible as the story my mother was telling me. I tucked it away to think about it later.

***************************************************************************

After a minute he looked at me and said very seriously,

"You know it's not safe here don't you?"

I put my chin out and said "What makes you say that?"

He shook his head again. "Are you here alone?"

"Yes", I said, still sticking my chin out.

"Where are your parents?" He said like he was older than me.

In fact, If it wasn't for those eyes, I thought he wasn't much older than me. I was getting a little upset at his attitude. Who did he think he was. I turned the question back at him.

"So what are you doing here?" He immediately became a little uncomfortable. His answer was very vague.

"I'm here on family business with my father." So there we were. The lion tamer and the gentleman. I let a smile cross my face at the circumstances. He noticed right away.

"What are you thinking"? He asked. But it was the way he said it that didn't sound like it was something he normally asked. I looked up with another smile and said

"Wouldn't you like to know".

He immediately said, "You have no idea".

"So tell me, what did that soldier want from me?"

He smirked a little and said, "Not to be rude but what do you think he wanted? Most girls your age are not allowed to go out into public places without a chaperon."

I laughed out loud, "How old fashioned!"

"Just because you're an American, it doesn't change the fact that you are in dangerous territory".

I turned it back to him, "If it's so dangerous why are you here?"

He laughed out loud, "I'm not a young girl all alone in a foreign country, besides I've done quite a lot of traveling in my time."

"Oh come on, you can't be that much older than me".

Again his eyebrow went up. He suddenly looked over my shoulder and nodded. I turned around to see the blond gentlemen smile at me. Edward motioned for him to come over to the table.

Edward introduced us "This is my father Dr. Carlise Cullen, Carlise this is Erylene. He nodded at me and looked at Edward. It seemed they already new what they needed to know without speaking.

Edward rose from his chair and was about to excuse himself when I heard Niccoli's loud laugh coming toward us. Then it stopped abruptly. I looked at him and he was staring at Edward and Dr. Cullen. We all noticed his silence, then he shook his head and put a fake smile on his face.

"The Cookie has already made friends. Edward looked confused and looked at me for an explanation. I told him my nickname and he said that suited me better than Erylene. I agreed.

Niccoli said we should hurry if I was going to see their show and check on my lions. I mentioned to Edward and Dr Cullen to come and see my show tomorrow night. They said they would try but had a lot of things to take care of. I told Niccoli to leave tickets in their names if they decided they could make it. They thanked me and turned to leave the hotel.

I watched them walk away. I couldn't take my eyes off of Edward. Just as I was thinking about being excited to see him again, he turned around and gave me that crooked smile. My heart skipped a beat.

I turned to look at Niccoli. The look on his face told me his heart skipped a beat too. But it wasn't the admiring look that I had on my face. It was fear.

Chapter 13

I got in the car with Niccoli. He kept that same look on his face for about 5 minutes and didn't say a word.

Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and asked, "Is there something wrong Niccoli? It's not Chubby is it? Is there something wrong?"

He took a deep breath and then he spoke. "How do you know these men I found with you?"

"I don't know them at all. Why?"

"I don't think they are healthy for you!"

"Healthy? What do you mean? Are they sick? Is there some illness that I should know about?

He smiled and said one word, "Vampiro"!

I started laughing. Now I'd seen Bella Lugosi as Count Dracula at the movies. I admit Edward and his Father were pretty pale, but I'd seen them both smile, no fangs, no capes, I'm pretty sure I saw their reflections in the big mirror over the fireplace in the dining room. They weren't anything like what I'd seen in the movie. Besides, that was all just superstition.

I saw that Niccoli wasn't laughing along with me, so I straightened up and said "Do you actually mean vampires?" His hands clenched the steering wheel a couple of times, then he nodded his head once. I knew I was dealing with a gypsy from a country that had a history a lot longer than the one we had in America, but still, in this day and age. How could anybody still believe in such nonsense? I decided to let him explain and not offend him by laughing anymore.

"What makes you think they're vampires?"

"My family has been around for hundreds of years. We may be gypsies, but each family passes our stories on to our children and them to their children and we all understand that we do this to protect each other. These bloodsuckers have been around since the beginning of our stories. They moved more freely in the ancient times. I have seen them for myself. Only a week ago, when I knew of J K's plan, I was sent to Volterra to find a safe place for your mama lion and her cubs. I was sent to Volterra to meet with the friends of J K that will keep our shipment a secret until you can leave with them. I must tell you about this city. It has a history that many people tell. It is said that many hundreds of years ago all of the people were plagued by these vampiro. There was much death and bodies found drained of their blood. Then a Saint came to the city named Marcus. It is said he drove all of the bloodsuckers out. None of them were left. There was a great festival that the city celebrates every year to honor Saint Marcus.

"Sounds like a real good time" I was being sarcastic and he didn't think it was funny.

"The Cookie makes jokes. This city is very safe. The people who live there say there is only death from old age now. "

"So why do you sound like it's not the truth"?

"When I was there making the plans for your new "friends" I saw a group of people following a beautiful woman. It looked like she was showing these people the city. What do you call these people? Guides? Yes a guide," he decided he chose the right word. They followed her down a long street that went to a big wooden door. I was curious to see what she was going to show these people. I followed them but not to closely. Just as the last person went through the door I kept it from closing. I made sure to put something in the door so it would not shut. I slowly walked down a dark hallway. I could here the people laughing and wondering where they were going. Then I heard more voices. They were very beautiful voices. It made me want to see the angels that spoke like nothing I had ever heard before. Then the screaming started. I have never heard such terrible sounds in all my days on this earth. I was torn. I didn't know what to do. Should I try to help these poor people. My father says I am the bravest man he knows. But I just stood there. My body full of ice. I was afraid. I turned and ran back the way I came. I was a coward. I ran back to J K's friends house and told them what had happened. They just looked at each other and told me I did the right thing. They made the cross. They would not speak about this to me again."

By this time we were pulling up to the carnival. I looked at this big man next to me, and the fear in his eyes was real. Then I decided to bring this back to why he thought Edward and his father had anything to do with this whole story.

"What does this have to do with the two gentlemen that were at my table when you arrived?"

He pulled up to the back of the tents and I could see my motordrome almost completed.

He turned to me as he turned the car off and paused.

"I want you to know I do not tell you these things to frighten you. I think J K is a very wise man in many ways. Maybe he chose this city Volterra because it is known to be safe. I know the soldiers trust the authorities there. They leave the city alone. But now I start to think there is more reasons to stay away from that place. When my father told me to make everything safe for you, I looked for the best hotel for you. I choose this place because I have many friends that work there. I let them know that The Cookie should be protected from all bad things. I tell them to make sure all guests are not dangerous to you. When those two gentlemen arrive last week, I made sure they are followed. They do not go out to much in the day. They go to Volterra 4 maybe 5 times in one week that I can have them followed. They are very secret. I don't know for sure, but I think they are part of those "death angels" I heard that night. Stay away from them. I don't like their smell. It's too sweet. Don't trust them. That's all I can say to you now. I feel it in my stomach. "

I sat there with my mouth open ready to catch flies! What kind of nut jobs has J K gotten me involved with. Talk about creepy. I knew I had to be polite. But I was about ready to run all the way back to the states. I had to say something that wouldn't offend him. I just couldn't think of anything that would make any sense. I patted him on the arm.

"I'm glad I've got you to watch out for me. Thanks. I'll be careful. Are you ready to show me around? I'd really like to meet your family."

I could tell by the look on his face he didn't like the fact I was dismissing him. But what could I do. This was all a bunch of bull. He must have had too much wine or something. This was the twentieth century for goodness sakes. Vampires. Okay, next is werewolves and fairies. I got out of the car and followed him to check on by lions and the rest of my equipment.

Chapter 14

I ran to Chubby's cage. Just as I thought he went straight for the gardenia in my hair. After he had completely sniffed every petal off, he licked me from my neck to the top of my head, taking every bit of make up I had. I scratched him behind his ears and turned to see Niccoli with a worried look on his face.

"He has always said hello to me like that. It's a wonder I have any skin on my face!" Niccoli was still looking like I had been eaten,

"Do all your cats greet you like this?"

"No just Chubby. You should see what he does for a ice cream cone!" He looked confused. You know frozen cream, sugar, eggs?"

"Ahh, gelato." he shook his head and asked me if I wanted to see my motordrome.

"Lead the way".

Just then I was taken by surprise by 3 of Niccoli's brothers. They all picked me up and almost tossed me up in the air. I let out a small scream and landed in their arms.

"Is this The Cookie?" they said almost at the same time. Niccoli said something in Italian to them that sounded like a reprimand. They put me down and started to apologize all at once. Niccoli held up his hand for silence.

"These are my brothers. Roberto is the brother born after me. He is the strong man." He bowed from his waist and picked up his other two brothers one in each arm. They both slugged him and he put them down all laughing.

"This is the next brother, Alberto, he works with the horses." He also bowed. Thank goodness he didn't have a horse to pick up.

"Carlo is my little brother. He works on the trapeze." Carlo bowed down and at the same time he jumped up and did a flip in the air. I clapped my hands in appreciation.

I turned to Niccoli and asked where the other two were.

"Come" he said. "They are helping to put together your wall. I followed him over to the other side of the carnival. There seemed to be 20 men working on my motordrome. It looked like it had been picked up in Texas and dropped here in Italy. It made me feel like I was at home.

As we walked up to it I heard orders being yelled in Italian. Niccoli said "I hear them. They are always too loud. It's because they were born in the middle. They had to be louder to be heard." I laughed at the explanation.

We approached them and they both turned to yell the same thing the others said "Is this The Cookie?" Niccoli put his hand out to stop them from getting any closer.

"This is Leonardo and Paulo." They both bowed and asked him something in Italian. He explained they weren't as good at speaking English as he was. He told me Leonardo worked with the lions also. He didn't have an act with them. He just took care of them along with most of the other animals too. Paulo was a clown. I could of known that the minute I looked at him. His face was made to be a clown. It was exaggerated even without make up. I told them it was nice to meet them and they went back to work.

I went all around inspecting my wall. It was something I did before every show. The only difference this time was my Dad wasn't with me. He always checked it once more after I left to get ready for the show. He didn't think I knew he did this, but I had caught him more than once. It was his secret safety inspection. It made me feel safe. Dad's can do that.

"Now I take you to Papa. You make the plans together for you to pick up the package in Volterra. I wish you could be with us longer than 2 days, but it is best we do this quickly. There is much in this country that will be changed once we join the war."

As we walked he showed me inside the big tent that was for the main show. He pointed out where the food tent was, then a small trailer they had set up for my dressing room. He led me to a quiet area where a slightly bigger trailer was parked. He knocked once and didn't wait for an answer. He opened the door and there sat the most warm and animated man I have ever seen in all life. He stood up when we walked in. He was big. I'm sure he only cleared the sealing by a half an inch. He smiled like he had the sun in him. How could anyone not be drawn to him. There was history on his face. His skin was russet, but his eyes were sky blue. The contrast was striking. He held his hand out to me. It was as big as a baseball mitt.

"Ah The Cookie" he said taking my hand and kissing it. "I am Rico". Then he bowed just like all of his sons. I knew who had taught them now. I laughed out loud. He laughed with me.

"Has Niccoli shown you my small carnival?" I told him that he had and I enjoyed meeting all his sons. He beamed when I told him I now knew why they were all so handsome. Then he shook his head and told me they they got their looks from their Mother. I saw a sadness flicker over his face and then it was gone.

"Let us talk" he said pulling a chair out for me.

"Niccoli will stay because he will be with you all the time. He will help you with the plan. I will also send Leonardo because he is also good with the cats and you could need his help. I will also send Roberto for his strength. These cages will need to be secured in the large trucks I have gotten to take all of your equipment and your lions to the docks. It is my hope that no one will notice one more cage."

We talked in great detail about the plan for me to get my "extra cargo" out as safely as possible. It had gotten late and the time difference was catching up with me. We said goodnight and he agreed that I should do a test run before the show tomorrow night.

We left and before I knew it I was back at the hotel. Niccoli wanted to walk me in but I said I'd be fine and I'd see him tomorrow.

Chapter 15

EPOV

I had acquired as much knowledge that I could about the girl who called herself Cookie. I read everybody's mind I could to get information. Giovanni the waiter was a little help. He seemed to be in charge of taking care of her when Niccoli wasn't here.

I slipped into her room after she left and went through her things. It wasn't very gentlemanly of me but it couldn't be helped. As I went through her things, her scent floated around me. I thought about her pulling that gardenia out of the vase on the table. It must be her favorite. There was a slight hint of it from her clothes. It was rather a exotic scent for such a young girl. It did suit her though. My mind went to her soft chestnut hair and her eyes. With closer inspection, I still couldn't decide whether they were green, blue, or gray. There was flecks of each color that were accentuated with what ever color she had on. She had a royal blue blouse on this evening that made her eyes look blue and her skin look like porcelain. I shook my head to stop myself from my thoughts about this confusing human. This was not what I was here for. I needed information that I could normally get from reading her mind. That's why I was here. I chastised myself thinking of my real reason for being in her room. It was definitely not to sniff her clothes!!

I continued looking around and found a few pictures of her lions and that old jalopy she rode on that wall. There were some newspaper clippings about some shows in the states.

There was another clipping of Haile Selassie.

That was very puzzling. Maybe there was something, some clue to her being here. Why can't I read her mind? Of all the times to not have my gift work. It was very frustrating. Wasn't that the reason I was here? I felt useless. Carlise would be just as well off with Emmett here. I was just about to climb out of her window when I heard her getting ready to come in. Luckily there was a balcony.

I decided to stay out there in case there was anything more I could learn. I had to know more. I felt a little bad being out there. But I reminded myself my intentions were not dishonorable. It was for my Mother. Boy that didn't sound right even when I just said it in my head.

I stayed in the shadows but decided to only look if it was necessary. I was here to listen, not be a peeping tom for god's sake! She came in and opened her suitcase and took out her jewelry box. That was strange I didn't notice her wearing any jewelry. She opened it and lifted the bottom out to take out a piece of paper. She went to the phone and asked for Giovanni.

"Giovanni, this is Cookie. Did you secure that call I asked you? Great, put him through. J K it's Cookie. Fine and you? Good. I met all the family at the carnival tonight. Yes, I know they are a great bunch of characters. Rico is the biggest character of them all. We went over the plans. They seem straightforward enough. Yes, I trust them. I think it will all go well. What? Oh no, I'm not nervous about performing. I took a look at my wall tonight. Everything looks fine. Chubby was happy to see me. I'm going to do a test run tomorrow before the show just to be sure. I'll talk to you soon. That's right, I'll see you at the end of the week, if all goes as planned. I promise to be careful. Bye."

With that she picked up her nightgown and went to the bathroom.

I looked around and saw my balcony just below and to the right. I made sure no one was around and easily jumped.

As I walked into the room Carlisle was waiting for me. "That's quite an entrance, don't like the elevator?" Carlisle chuckled.

"That's enough" I frowned at him. "I was only trying to get some more information about our lion tamer."

"And?" he looked anxious. I told him everything I heard her say on the phone. "I'm going to call Alice. See if she can find anything out about this J K. I wish she would of said his last name. I'll also see if she can find anything out about these people that own the carnival. Hopefully, that storm is coming in that Alice told us about. That way I can go over there and see if I can learn anything tomorrow. Have you heard anything from Eleazar?"

"No nothing." he put his head in his hands. I knew how much pain he was in worrying about Esme. I put my arm around his shoulders and told him that nothing would stop us from bringing Esme back home. He patted my hand.

We called Alice and spoke a little to everybody. Emmett was ready to get on a plane yesterday. They all wanted to be here. Carlisle didn't want to draw too much attention. I told Alice what I needed to know and she had some visions of all these people in the last few hours. She would do what she could to find out more. I told her we would talk later. We all said goodbye.

I asked Carlisle if he wanted to go hunting with me. He shook his head. I told him he needed to keep his strength up. He agreed. But he just wanted some time alone. He promised he would hunt later.

It was almost morning and I wanted to hunt before dawn. I left and as soon as I was clear of the city, I ran to the nearest forest. I hunted for and hour or more. I wanted to make sure I was well fed before I returned. I found myself at the carnival making sure I wasn't seen.

Chapter 16

EPOV

I would have to be careful around the animals. They can sense danger when we get near them. Some people can too, but they don't know why. Animals know we are predators. I could smell the scents of the animals and made sure to stay upwind so they couldn't get my scent.

I scanned the crowd of carnival people to try and find Niccoli. It didn't take long. He was talking to one of his brothers. They seemed to be upset. They were going into a small trailer. Their father was inside, it seems that Giovanni had been arrested. "Who would do this?" he screamed. They were quiet for a few seconds. Niccoli spoke, "OVRA! Why would they be bothered with my poor cousin, a waiter in a hotel?"

"It seems they intercepted a call he placed to J K."

"We need to move fast. Get the girl out of there. Make sure no one sees you. Have they talked to her yet?"

"No Papa. They don't seem to be able to make a connection to her. They only know a call was placed to the US. They couldn't get anything but static. I am sure J K made sure it was secure before he spoke."

"She must still do the show tonight. There has been too much in the papers about her performance. If she doesn't do the show it would cause too much suspicion. She will stay with us until it's time to complete our task. We cannot fail. Too much depends on this."

They left the trailer and I was running back to the hotel. My mind was running through all the details. OVRA!! I'd read about them. They were the equivalent of the Gestapo in Germany. The initials stood for **Organizzazione di Vigilanza Repressione dell'Antifascismo**, or **Organization for Vigilance Against Anti-Fascism. I had seen the plan in their minds. I know now why they were involved. Did this girl know what she had gotten herself into? **

**Chapter 17**

**EPOV**

**The sky had turned almost black with clouds. It wouldn't be long before the rain would start. I had gotten to the hotel before Niccoli. I ran upstairs to check on Carlisle to tell him what I had found out. He wasn't there and I couldn't hear him either. I assumed he had gone hunting. **

**I went down to the lobby and looked around and that's when I saw her. It seems that I got there just in time again.****Capitan Dellano was again trying to speak to her. She had no idea what he was saying. I quickly walked up behind her and the Capitan looked half relieved and half annoyed. **

**She turned and looked almost happy to see me. I asked the Capitan in Italian if I could be of some assistance. He told me that I could be very helpful because he needed to ask the young lady some questions. **

**Cookie turned to me for an explanation. I told her and she said fine. **

**"What does he want to know?" He asked what she was doing in Italy. I told him about the carnival and what she did. He looked at me like I was making this up. I looked around for a newspaper. I went over to the front desk and got the local paper. I scanned it quickly found her picture and story. I showed it to him and it seemed to satisfy him. I read his mind and knew he wasn't just doing his job, he was interested in this unchaperoned young lady. He asked me if she was traveling with me and my father. I thought about it for a second and told him yes. She didn't need to draw any attention from the local police. She had no idea what could happen to her if the OVRA was alerted to her real purpose here. Did she really know what she was doing? Why was I protecting her. Alice said she would be the key to Esme's rescue. I had no other choice. The Capitan looked at both of us and tipped his cap and turned and walked away. I let out a small breath and turned to the naive girl. **

**"Did you just rescue me again?" she asked with her hands on her hips. How did she look so innocent? She couldn't possibly know the full extent of the danger she was in. I decided to try and get some answers from her. I just wasn't sure how. I had never been forced to get information from someone. I could just read their minds. I felt so frustrated. **

**"Yes," I answered looking as deeply into her eyes as I could. Still nothing. Small flashes of pictures. Mostly lions, old car, an older man, -- nothing else. **

**"Could we sit down for a minute? I'd like to speak with you." She hesitated, but said just for a minute. I walked her over to a quiet corner in the lobby and we sat on one of the large sofas.**

**I wasn't sure how to start. She noticed my hesitation. **

**She looked straight in my eyes and said "Why do you keep coming to my rescue? Especially when there is a man in uniform." she seemed to be amused at her observation. **

**I decided to follow her lead. I think she was trying to flirt with me. She really didn't seem to have any fear. Being this close to her, I was suddenly hit be her scent again. I could smell the gardenias, and something else maybe lavender. I swallowed the venom in my mouth. Once again I was reminded of what I was. I needed to take care being this close to her. I looked at her closer. Her hair was just to her shoulders, chestnut with some red if you looked closely. She had it pulled up on each side in rolls held up with combs. It was the style. I had seen Rose and Esme with their hair like that. It suited her. **

**She seemed to know I was taking her in. She lowered her eyes and then looked up through her eyelashes and smiled.**

**Before I thought about what I was saying, it just seemed to slip out of my mouth. "You look lovely today." I caught myself, I was leaning too close to her. I could see her blood pulse on her neck. The blood rose to the surface of her skin with a beautiful blush. I think she was a little embarrassed about flirting with me. If that was what she was doing. Was that what I was doing? She was so small and delicate. She was almost a whole foot shorter than I was. How could this tiny, fragile, girl work with lions?**

**I pulled away. She noticed and straightened herself also. I spoke to break the tension and also get back to the task at hand.**

**"Am I still invited to watch your show?" **

**"****Of course, I have two shows. One at 3 and one at 6. I'm waiting for Niccoli to come and pick me up so I can do a test run on my motordrome. I was looking for Giovanni. I needed some help getting my wardrobe down to the car." **

**This was my chance. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I have heard from my sources that Giovanni was arrested last night" I waited for her reaction. Her face was frozen for a couple of seconds, she had no idea. **

**"What for? What did he do?" **

**"Cookie, in these times, and in this country, you never know what can happen to you, or why. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I don't think it's safe for you to be here any longer. I'd like to offer my resources to get you out of the country." **

**"Why would you do that? You don't even know me. What do you want?" she was on alert now. I could see her lean away from me. It didn't help. I was still surrounded by her scent. I stopped breathing to clear my head.**

**"I am a fellow American. I think it's too dangerous for you to stay here. You need to let me help you."**

**"****You never told me why Giovanni was arrested."**

**I debated what to tell her, but decided to tell her what I knew. "Did you have Giovanni make a phone call to the States last night?" she nodded and her eyes seemed to get a little wider. **

**"He was arrested because of that call." She started to jump up and I grabbed her arm to get to sit her back down. She jumped as she felt my cold touch.**

** "Don't draw attention to yourself. I'm sure you're being watched." She looked around but listened to me. **

**"Could we go somewhere a little more private? Do you trust me?" She thought for a moment and nodded yes. **

**"What room are you in? She narrowed her eyes for a minute. **

**" I swear to you, this is about your safety, nothing else."**

**"342 let me go up first," she got up from the coach and walked to the elevator. I got up from the couch and walked out the front door. The rain was really coming down now. I went to the side of the building and climbed up the roof and jumped down to her balcony as I did last night.**

**I was standing in her room soaked and dripping when I heard the key. I decided to let her draw her own conclusions to how I got up here before her. A plan was forming and I wasn't sure I could pull it off. I got a quick flash from Alice backing me up. "That's it Edward, Brilliant!" My sister was quite dramatic. Too many spy movies I thought.**

**As she reached to turn on the lights I beat her to it. She jumped but thank goodness didn't scream. **

**"How did you get in here", she said lowering her voice. I decided to let her come to her own conclusions. **

**"I went up the back way," was she really going to buy that? **

**"How did you get in my room?"**

**"This hotel is very old. These locks haven't been changed in years. A child could get in here with a hairpin." I hoped that would satisfy this naive girl. She shrugged her shoulders.**

**"Who are you?" she asked again with her hands on her hips and that lovely chin pointed right at me. Wait a minute. Did I just say lovely chin. Her whole face had a rosy blush to it. Is was very lovely indeed!**

**"I told you, I'm here with my Father on business."**

**"What kind of business?"**

**How was I going to put this without her thinking I was mad? **

**"We are here because our enemies have kidnapped my Mother. She is being held somewhere in or around Volterra. They want us to help them in exchange for my Mother." I waited for a reaction but she just stood there insisting on more. **

**"My Father is with them now trying to see what their demands are. When we rescue her, we are going to have to smuggle her out of the country." That seemed to play into the cloak and dagger theme I was going to pretend for her sake.**

**"What does that have to do with me? How can I help you?" **

**"I hope you will forgive me, but I have been doing some sleuthing around the carnival today. I have learned your real purpose here. I think it is entirely too dangerous for you. You are in over your head, and I would like to offer my assistance to you again."**

**Instead of grateful or relieved she looked like she was going to explode with anger. **

**"What do you mean you know about my plans. Who do you think you are? Nobody asked you to get into my personal business. You better let me know everything and how you found out." She started to smirk and a little giggle escaped her mouth. Now I was sure she had no idea what she was in the middle of. There was nothing funny about any of this. **

** "Are you trying to get me to go out with you. Because if you are, you are the most confused man I have ever met. You need to just come out and ask me. You don't have to make a entire plot up about your mother and and --- I stopped her right there.**

**"That's the most absurd thing I have ever heard! How can you even think such a thing? That would be the last thing" -- I stopped in mid sentence. I didn't want to offend her. It's not that she wasn't beautiful – wait a minute. A minute ago she was lovely now she's beautiful? Edward, get a hold of yourself. **

**"I am a gentleman, I would not lie to a young lady to ask for a date." The thought of being alone with her on a date was completely impossible. Her scent was even more concentrated in her room. It was very distracting. After all she was human. I was a vampire. A dinner date would be something that she wouldn't want to happen with me. **

**Just then Alice popped into my head. Carlise was with Aro. Then the next vision was of the Capitan and another man in a dark suit coming to this room. I didn't know how long we had. I heard the elevator door at the end of the hallway open. I swiftly picked her up and at the same time I put my finger up to her mouth. I pointed to the door. She really did think I was mad now. I ran out with her to the balcony. **

**Just as I looked down I saw Niccoli pull up in his car. I had to react very quickly. How could I get her down there without letting them know what I was. I whispered to her. "The police are here for you. I have to get you out of here. Do you trust me?" Her eyes told me she wasn't sure. But she didn't say no. There was a potted plant on the balcony. I pulled the plant out and dropped it directly on Niccoli's head. **

**There was a string of Italian curse words and then he looked up. There was a flagpole within jumping distance. I motioned to him to let him know my intentions. I could of jumped from there easily without making a sound, but I would have to make it look like I was using the flagpole and the rope on it to make it to the ground. I turned her around and told her to jump on my back. She looked at me like I was going to kill her. I just said "Trust ME!!" She grabbed on and I jumped to the flagpole just to grab the rope and made it look like I was lowering us down. In seconds we were on the ground and in the car. **

**Chapter 18**

**CPOV**

**"What just happened?" Niccoli was still brushing dirt from his hair. He turned and looked at Edward. Who was this guy? I'd seen some acrobats in my life but this was nothing short of amazing. If I hadn't been on his back through the whole jump I would of thought I was seeing things. I still did!! **

**Niccoli asked him something in Italian and Edward just nodded his head yes. **

**"I would like an answer in English please!!" I turned to look at them both. Edward told him to pull over. He went down a couple of alleys and stopped. **

**Niccoli turned to me. "Things have taken a turn around. We are going to have to do this tonight." **

**"What? I just got here. We have everything planned. What about my shows? **

**"The Cookie will do the shows tonight. After, we will do what we have to. The OVRA have started asking too many questions." then he stopped and looked at Edward. **

**He seemed to be somewhere else. **

**"Hey Twinkle-Toes snap out of it." I was going to get more answers. **

**"Sorry, I have to go. It seems we all have to move tonight. You are going for your test run now aren't you? I'll be there. I have to speak to my Father. Things have to be arranged. I think we can all work together. Just give me an hour. Now go!" He was out of the car and gone before we could say anything. Niccoli stepped on the gas. I was being taken away --to what I wasn't sure.**

**We got to the carnival and we went to Rico's trailer. Two of his brothers were just leaving as we got there. Niccoli told them to wait for him. We went in and Rico was sitting there with his head in his hands. He looked up when we came in and his face made me understand that things were bad. He motioned for us to sit.**

**"Things are not good. These OVRA have come into this town like roaches. My people say they are everywhere. I can't understand why they are here. There is much to arrange for tonight. Niccoli, I need you to stay with me. We will make things happen before those scum can stop us. Go and get one of your brothers to take The Cookie for her motordrome. You do the test? Yes? You will do the first show and you will become too sick to do the next one. That is when we will leave for Volterra. I have already started to get some of our trucks to Volterra. I'm sorry. I'm not sure we will be having time to get your wall out of the country. Your lions will be all we can take."**

**I just sat there. Was the whole world spinning or was it just my head. I wanted a few more answers before I left everything except my cats in Italy. **

**"Who are these OVRA? Why are they after me? Did someone tell them of our plans? Why can't we just stick to our original plan. I haven't done anything wrong – yet." **

**The way Rico looked at me scared me.**

**"These scum are our version of the Gestapo. They don't care about explanations. If they want you, you disappear. I have talked to some of my people in Volterra. There has been a lot of activity there in the last two days. They tell me they think the "Royal Ones" are getting ready to leave Italy. It is said they have great treasure and power. No one speaks of them. But we all know they are there. I think they have an agreement with the government. I think they are breaking it. If this is true, and my nose tells me it is. They will do whatever it takes to keep them from taking these treasures out of Italy. This can be very good for us. If we can join the trucks that my people say have been coming and going from there, we will just be another truck. We do not know how much time we have until the OVRA go to the city and stop all trucks. I think we have time. My people tell me there isn't enough of them in Firenze yet to stop anything. But it won't be long. We move tonight. Or not at all!"**

**I looked at Rico and Niccoli for a second and then I thought of Edward and his Father. "I think I have someone who could help us." I quickly told them the story about Edward's mother and why he and his father were here. **

**"Something tells me they know more than we do about what's going on. He's coming here to see me do my test run. We should talk to him." Niccoli turned quickly to Rico and told him what he knew in Italian. I did hear him say Edward and vampiro and I didn't like it. Rico's face went pale. **

**He looked at me and said "Does The Cookie always bring such trouble where ever she goes?" **

**"I don't believe in your silly superstitions. He saved me more than once since I've been here. Whatever or whoever he is, I think we can trust him. Come with me we'll talk to him. It won't hurt to have another person on our side." He shrugged his shoulders and laughed. **

**"We go! If he is truly on your side. He could be a great deal of help." He made the sign of the cross on his chest, and got up. **

**Chapter 19**

**EPOV**

**I ran to the edge of town to meet Carlisle just coming up the road in the car. I jumped in and saw everything he had gone through with Aro and Caius. They let him see Esme. You could tell he was relieved but still worried about what was about to happen. They wanted us to find a way to get what they referred to as "invaluable insurance" out of the country to keep safe for them until it could be retrieved at a later date. **

**Once we got it out of the country, they would release Esme. I was doing all I could to control my temper. How could they do such a thing? From what Carlisle had told me about them they had many powerful vampires that were their guard. Why didn't they have them do this? Then I heard Carlisle's thoughts. They chose him because of his love of humanity. Before he was a vampire he was the son of a clergyman. It was hundreds of years ago. But they knew he would want to keep these treasures safe for humanity. Especially one of the most sought after Christian relics of them all. The Spear of Destiny!! My mind could not fathom how these ancient ones had such a thing. Also called the Holy Lance, this spear was believed to have been the weapon used to pierce the side of Jesus Christ at the Crucifixion. Legend has it that whoever possesses the lance will rule the world. For more than a 1,000 years, the spear had been a symbol of power to the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. Century after century, the legend of the Spear had been fulfilled for good or evil. **

Constantine the Great claimed the spear guided him through providence. The Frankish General Karl Martel used the spear in battle. Emperor Charlemagne lived and slept within reach of the spear, and attributed 47 battle victories to its powers. In all, 45 emperors over 1,000 years claimed the Spear of Destiny as a possession.

** Then Carlisle explained it was their insurance against the Catholic church. As long as they had it the church would let them stay in their fortress town. They had made a deal centuries ago. The church kept their secret as long as they had their insurance. It meant nothing to the others. They knew that there could be no other they could trust but Carlisle. Esme was their insurance that he would help them. **

**Suddenly I could hear Alice. "There will be a way to get both Esme and the Spear away from them. Trust the lion tamer! Go Edward. She's waiting for you." **

**I told Carlisle to turn and go to the carnival. I'd explain on the way. There was something else that she showed me but I dismissed it. It was Emmett and a truck full of lions. At least now it was clearer to me why the lions would be crucial to our plan. But what was Emmett doing driving the truck. Then just as I was trying to figure it out, there they were. Running along side of the car. The back doors opened and there they were. Alice, Rose, Emmit, and Jasper. Carlisle hit the brakes.**

**"What are you doing here?" They all just smiled and said "Hi". **

**Alice spoke first. "I can't see you two pulling this off without us!" Alice was grinning ear to ear. Emmit's smile doubled hers. He was an open book. He couldn't wait to get in the fight.**

**Carlise turned to them all and just shook his head and said, "Thank you. We will need all the help we can get." **

**Alice bounced in her seat and clapped her hands. Emmet just held up his two fingers in a victory sign, and said "You know I can't resist a good fight. Just tell us the plan" Rose just rolled her eyes. Jasper just sat there keeping us all focused and calm.**

**I quickly told them what I knew. I also had to tell Carlise something that was troubling me about the spear. I know I had read that it was in a museum in Vienna. How could the Volturi have it. Carlise told us that Eleazar had confided in him about how the Catholic church had gotten the Volturi to change it for a replica that the church had made. It would be very easy for them. No one would be able to catch one of our kind making the switch. I had also read that Hitler was fascinated by the spear. He was also very close to invading Austria. I could just imagine that would be one of his first stops to procure the spear. It amused me to think he would have a fake one to bolster his mad attempt to invade all of Europe. So we were to take the spear from one set of power hungry vampires that were protecting it for the church who was protecting it for Mussolini another mad man. We were to meet Aros and the guard in England. Then they would exchange it for Esme. Carlise and I knew it was risky to double cross Aros. We both knew it would be a great blow to humanity if this religious icon was in the hands of any of these mad men that were power hungry. If we pulled this off Aros would never be the wiser. Carlise was still the son of a minister. His faith had never left him. Regardless of what fate had dealt him, he would always be on the side of humanity.**

**We talked about the plan with the others on our way to the carnival. It would be difficult to say the least. But if we could join forces with these carnival friends of Cookie's, it could work. I felt better knowing my sisters and brothers were there to help. Now if we could just talk them into working with a family of vampires – Alice said there was no way of knowing yet if they would agree. We would just have to present the story to them and hope for the best.**

**Chapter 20**

**We arrived just in time to see Cookie walking with four men toward her motordrome. It had stopped raining for the moment but the dirt had turned into slimy mud. She was having a difficult time. We got out of the car and stood there. They all turned and stopped in their tracks looking at my family.**

**I read the large man's mind. He knew what we were. I was afraid of that. He was a gypsy. They had been around long enough to know things that present day people dismissed as folklore. **

**We kept a wide space between us. He called out to us.**

**"Ahh you have brought more of your kind with you. I hear you have a problem that we could help you with." he had a grin on his face only a gypsy would have meeting a vampire. **

**Carlisle smiled and said, "This is the rest of my family. I think you have a problem that we could help ****YOU**** with." **

**We approached them and they stood their ground. Cookie's eyes were wide in amazement. I wondered what was going through her mind right now. I was sure she would let me know! **

**CPOV**

**I took a giant gulp and said ****"Okay boys let's quit beating around the bush. We don't have time for this." I grabbed Rico's arm and pulled him forward with me. All of his boys stayed close behind us. **

**Edward and his family came closer also. Then it started to pour down rain again. **

**"Okay boys let's go inside. You can talk while I test out my wall." Edward introduced me to his family. I liked Alice right away. Emmit was next he came up to me and bowed. It made me think was he Italian? Edward explained he was really impressed with my act. The other two were a little more sedate. Rosalie seemed to be disgusted with the whole thing. And Jasper stood as far away as possible. He looked like he was in pain. Strange group but they seemed to be on board with the whole plan. I made a mental note to ask him what kind of family they were. There was no resemblance except for all of their eyes were the same color. Weird.**

**When we walked inside, I saw "Old Betsey" my Austin Healy. It was good to see her in this crazy mess. She felt like home. **

**Half of me wanted to know what was being planned. The other half just decided that it was best if I didn't. They would let me know what I needed to do. Also, the less I knew the less I could tell if I was caught. I wasn't that naive to think this was bigger than saving some lions.**

**As the men talked, I did my usual walk around to inspect the wall. I missed my Dad right then. It all kind of hit me at once. How did all this happen to me so fast. One minute I was minding my own business in Texas and the next I'm in Italy in the middle of god knows what. All over a little lion cub that captured my heart. **

**I felt a cool breeze and I turned around and there was Edward. That's when I had that same thought. Am I in the middle of a spy movie? That's what my mind had settled on. Edward must be some kind of government agent. He was just a foot away from me. There was something about him that was different. But a vampire. Come on. Bunch of crazy gypsy nonsense. Then again, when I took in his entire family. They weren't exactly what I thought about when I thought of a typical family. Edward was looking at me with such a puzzled look on his face. I didn't even think about it, I just reached out and almost touched him. I didn't even see him move. He was another foot away. **

**"Wow! What was that?" He had that crooked smile on his face.**

**"What was what? He just stood there with that smile and those gorgeous eyes. **

**"You were right there and then you weren't." **

**"I didn't move. Why don't you show me your car. I'm very interested in watching you drive this thing."**

**"Hey don't call Betsey a thing. She's been with me for years. She's never let me down. Hey, wait a minute. Don't change the subject. How did you move so fast?"**

**"I told you, I've been right here in this spot. You must be tired. Did you eat anything today? There must be a place to get you some food around here."**

**"I'm fine. I'll eat after my test run." I walked over to Betsey and she started right up. I patted her dash board and told her she was a good girl. I honked her horn to get everybody out of the way and let out the clutch. They all moved to the center ring and I started to pick up speed around the track. I loved taking her up on the wall. It was a little different without Chubby in the car. Without his weight, it was a little different, but I knew how to handle Betsey with or without Chubby. As I went around the second time I felt the tires hit the bottom boards. "Here we go" I yelled at everyone. I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of this huge smile. It was Edward. Then I got an idea. I slowed back down and came to a stop on the track. I opened the front hood like I was looking at something. Edward walked up to the car. "What's wrong? Is the car alright. Can I help you? **

**"Every thing's fine, I just need to adjust the carburetor little. I could feel it when I stepped on the gas. I guess she didn't like the boat trip over. Hey Edward you could do me a favor now that I think of it?" **

**"Anything" he answered immediately. **

**"I usually do my test drive with Chubby, my lion in the car. It doesn't feel right with just my weight in the car. You wanna take Chubby's place?" Now most men I have asked that question would hesitate and kind of back away from the crazy woman. Edward's smile got even bigger.**

**"I thought you'd never ask. I'm ready when you are." With that he jumped in Chubby's seat and just kept grinning. **

**"Okay Twinkle Toes you asked for it!"**

**I let out the brake and popped the clutch so the tires screeched. I went around the track once picking up speed. Then the familiar sound of the tires hitting the first boards. By the next lap I was about a third of the way up. All I could see in the corner of my eye was that huge smile. The man was having a ball!! I let her go flat out and we were just to the half way mark. I looked at him quickly and he gave me a thumbs up. I went around a couple more times and I started to ease her down the wall. A couple more laps and we were on the track again. I down shifted and brought her to a stop. I jumped out and patted her again. Edward jumped out and could barely contain himself. **

**"That was fantastic. I can't tell you how exhilarating that was. When we get back home I would love for you to teach me how to do that." I didn't care what he was, a spy, a vampire, it didn't matter. I was staring at a little boy on Christmas morning. Hmm I wonder -- He wants to see me back in the states. This made my heart skip a beat and then do a tap dance. After all he was pretty easy on the eyes. Not to mention a total gentleman. **

**Then his face looked a little confused. "That's the second time you've called me twinkle toes. I'm not sure what you mean by that" then he looked down at his feet and looked up at me with those eyes and that crooked smile. I started to laugh, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings. "It just means you're light on your feet. Did you forget your acrobatic rescue from the hotel? You should think about working up an acrobatic act for the carnival circuit when you get back to the states." His mouth dropped open just enough to let me know that wasn't going to happen. Then he chuckled and shook his head. "I think it's best we both stick to what we do. I don't think the public is ready for me to entertain them with my "twinkle toes"! We both laughed and he gave me a wink. **

**Then my heart did another dance in my chest as he turned and led me over to the others who were whistling and clapping. I did notice he had put his hand on the small of my back as we walked over. It felt like a combination of two extremes. His touch was ice cold, but it sent sparks of electricity up my spine. Talk about not knowing if I was coming or going. Now I was the one with the big grin on my face.**

**The group seemed to have talked everything out. The gypsies still kept their distance from them, but they seemed a bit more at ease. I could here Carlisle's voice and he was speaking Italian. Wow. Was I the only one that didn't speak Italian? Too late now. I'll just have Niccoli fill me in. **

**Just then Carlo came in the door carrying all my luggage and my wardrobe!! I was so glad to see him. What's a lion tamer without her stage clothes, not to mention her whip. I couldn't wait to wear my new costume J K had made for me. It would be such a waste not to get to wear it. I gave him a big kiss on the cheek. He turned bright red. I thanked him, then I looked at everybody and said, "I'm hungry, let's eat!" I started to walk to the door and noticed Edward and his family were talking so low I would of thought they weren't saying anything. Actually, Carlisle wasn't doing much but shaking his head yes or no to whatever Edward was saying. Jasper nodded and quickly left. **

**"Come on you guys. Let's eat. It's almost time for me to get ready for the show." Edward walked over and said they wouldn't be joining us. They had a lot to do before they met us back here for the show and whatever they were planning after it. "Suit yourselves. I'll be right here waiting. See you guys later." I started out of the door again and turned to ask them one more thing and they were gone. Okay, were they all track stars. In the back of my mind I knew that wasn't the answer. I decided just like every thing else that was happening, I'd leave it on a need to know basis. I shook my head and followed Niccoli to the food tent.**

**No one noticed the small dark man slipping into the motordrome and quickly loosening 2 of the pins that held the boards together. His superior had told him it was his duty to make the accident happen.**

**Chapter 21**

**EPOV**

**"Do you think it will work?" Carlise just shrugged his shoulders. I read Carlisle's thoughts about the plan. I didn't trust Aros. He had been very specific about when and where Carlisle was to meet him. He said to meet him at midnight by the clock tower. **

**We arrived back at the hotel, we slipped in unnoticed through the window and gathered our things. Alice, Rose, and Emmett had all decided to hunt before we all met back at the carnival. Jasper should be back around the same time. **

**I concentrated to sift through all the thoughts around the hotel. There were quite a few OVRA around. They were on alert waiting for orders from their superior. I couldn't get any details from any of them. They were just told to be on alert. I could also hear that poor excuse for a man Capitan Delano's thoughts. I could see Cookie in his mind. My blood boiled. I would not be unhappy if he happened to get in the way of our plans tonight. He would have no more thoughts at all after I dealt with him. I told Carlisle that I had scanned the hotel and there were no thoughts about our plan in any of the authority's heads. I thought of something just before we left. I quickly ran down to lobby. It was almost deserted being in between lunch and dinner. I found what I was looking for and quickly met Carlisle outside. We had left our car at the carnival which made me happy to be able to run there instead. We would also hunt on the way. We all needed to be as strong as possible. Tonight was going to be a true test of all of our strength – vampire and human.**

** I also could not fathom why I had touched her. It was something I did without thinking. I'm cannot remember a time that I felt so relaxed with a human. The feeling of her warmth through her blouse was very pleasant. It seemed as though I could still feel the warmth on my fingertips. I was delusional!! There could be nothing between us. Maybe when all was said and done and we returned to the States I could look in on her from time to time. That would be my only recourse. It would be too dangerous to remain anything but a memory for her. I would keep this time that we had spent together in a special place. A warm memory in my cold existence. I would never forget this girl. I would do all I could for to help her and keep her safe. She was putting herself in great danger. After tonight we would go our separate ways. It was for the best. If she knew what I was, she would go screaming into the night. I'm sure the gypsies had given her a few thoughts about what we were. I tried to clear my mind of her, but could not. **

**My thoughts turned to my ride on the wall with Cookie. I'm not sure which one of us enjoyed it more. I could not fathom how a lion would sit through that without jumping out. She assured me Chubby was well trained. She said sometimes she had to slow him down with the whip to keep him from jumping into the car too quickly. I must admit I was rather excited to see her performance. I wondered what kind of reaction her lion would have if I got close enough for him to smell me. Animals knew immediately when we got too close. After all, we were the predators. We would have to stay down wind during the performance. **

**As we approached the motordrome, I could see Cookie walking toward us. She looked rather happy to see us. It warmed my nonexistent heart. She was so young, but she had a lot of courage. Not just about what she did in her act, but she seemed so much more accepting of the twists and turns of life. Most girls her age that I had encountered were very self absorbed. Their thoughts mainly consisted of their boyfriends, or husbands. Their children or their friends. Not many would ever see anything or do anything but have more babies and try to outdo the other wives or girlfriends to get their significant others promoted or advanced in their jobs. Not many went to college. That was reserved for the wealthy. Even then those girls were there to meet a better class of man. There wasn't anything wrong with that, but you would rarely encounter a girl that had any thoughts deeper than the newest fashion or decorating trend. **

**Cookie was different. She didn't seem to have the same preoccupation that most girls had. I enjoyed her spirit. **

**Maybe it just made me happy to know I didn't seem to frighten her. If only I could just read her mind and really know about what she was thinking. Maybe that was what drew me to her. She never did what I expected. I had to admit her mystery was part of her charm.**

**As she got closer to us I noticed she was in costume. She was stunning. She had on a gold satin blouse and cream colored riding breaches. She had a wide metallic gold belt around her small waist. Her boots were made of the same metallic gold leather. I thought to myself that anyone watching her wouldn't give the lion a second look.**

**She walked up with a breathtaking smile. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. If she was afraid it didn't show.**

**"Thank you for the gardenias". **

**"How did you know I sent them"?**

**"Oh a little bird told me" she giggled like a little girl.**

**"They look lovely in your hair. I remembered that you put one in your hair from the vase at the hotel".**

**"You're very observant. Thank you again. They are beautiful". Her eyes grew wide and excited. "Come with me, I want to introduce you to Chubby".**

**I needed to not let my face give me away. It hurt me to have to tell her no.**

**"Um I don't think that would be a very good idea."**

**"Oh come on, don't be afraid. He's in a cage. He won't hurt you."**

**I shook my head letting her think that I was afraid. The look on her face said she wasn't going to take no for an answer. How was I going to get out of this without hurting her feelings.**

**She held up her hand and told me to wait for her, she'd be right back. It was unbelievably frustrating to not be able to read her mind. **

**I heard Carlisle's thoughts. He was letting me know he was going to find the others and "Good luck with the lion". He was laughing when he walked away.**

**Cookie returned with an ice cream cone. Oh no, now she was going to expect me to eat. It wasn't something I had to do often. We could usually fake eating in social situations. Most food went into the napkin. But this was going to be almost impossible. All human food was pretty repulsive, but anything to do with milk was disgusting. How was I going to get out of this.**

**I decided to take the lead.**

**"Oh you have got yourself some ice cream".**

**"No, it's not for me". **

**I tried not to cringe. **

**"I'm sorry but I'm probably the one person in the world that doesn't like ice cream".**

**"It's not for you", she said with that sparkle in her eyes.**

**"Then I'm very confused. Is there someone else here"?**

**She just giggled and said "Follow me".**

**I walked with her toward the cages. I could get the scent of the large cats. I was still very confused as to what she was going to do. I was also relieved about two things. I didn't look like she was going to expect me to eat the ice cream, and it was very fortunate that we had hunted before. Did I mention that back in the states, mountain lion was my favorite meal. I doubt Cookie would be very pleased if I had Chubby for dinner. As it was, I still felt the venom starting to pool in my mouth along with the burn in my throat. I had to stop breathing to try and ignore the lions scent and Cookie's.**

**We approached the cage and I stood back trying not to alarm the large cat. He turned his huge head toward my scent and the rumble in his throat started to get loader. **

**Cookie just walked up without any hesitation. I was concerned that her Chubby would not be very friendly to her with me there. **

**"Chubby, stop that"!! She scolded him. He stopped in mid growl. "There now, you have better manners than that. Chubby, this is my friend Edward, behave yourself or you won't get your treat." **

**Chubby looked at me then at her then his eyes stopped when he saw the ice cream. He actually looked like he had found a mate! His eyes never left that ice cream cone. **

**She walked toward me and handed me the ice cream. I was, again, totally confounded. Very frustrating for a mind reader. She started giggling again.**

**"If you want to make friends with Chubby just go over and let him lick the ice cream". Had she lost her sanity? **

**"Just go over and do it!! He would never hurt anyone with ice cream. Not only will he not hurt you, he will be your friend for life".**

**Well this would be quite interesting. I looked at her then at Chubby. She nodded her head and motioned for me to go over to him. Chubby's eyes hadn't left the ice cream. I slowly walked toward the lion. I had to stop myself from crouching into a hunting stance as I got within a foot of him. My instincts were kicking in and I had to straighten my posture. He was truly a magnificent animal. I slowly moved my hand closer. For a second his eyes left the ice cream and looked deep into my eyes. For that second I knew he had decided to trust his master and ignore his instincts. I knew how he felt! I closed the distance and his large tongue unrolled out of his mouth and took the whole thing in one lick. **

**Cookie clapped her hands "Ahhh, I told you he would be your friend for life. Just remember, always bring him his favorite and he won't give you any problems."**

**I started laughing with her and I must admit I was greatly relieved.**

**"What happens when you run out? Should we get him more?"**

**"NO!! I'll never get him out of the cage to do the show. We never feed them before a show. They wouldn't even move if we did."**

**"So you're telling me that you always work with hungry lions"?**

**"Of course. It's the only way they'll work. Oh and one other thing. They hate the smell of alcohol. There is no quicker way to get hurt than to show up with liquor on your breath. They hate it". **

**"Come on I only have about fifteen minutes before the show". She put her arm through mine. I'm sure she felt my body stiffen. She didn't even look at me. She didn't seem to notice how cold my skin was. It was very pleasant to feel the warmth of her touch.**

**Just then, seemingly out of nowhere, there was music. I could tell it was from one of the trailers that were scattered around. It was one of the new popular songs. I found it not unpleasant. I did prefer classical music, being the piano player in our family. But some of these new "big band" songs were not without merit. Cookie was humming very softly. I am sure that she thought I couldn't hear her but, with my enhanced hearing I could tell she liked this tune. I was so at ease with her and she seemed the same with me. What was going to happen later that night would put us all in danger. I threw caution to the wind. I stopped walking and turned to face her. I very cautiously put my arm around her waist and held my other hand out.**

**"Would you care to dance?" The smile on her face told me yes. She touched my hand and drew back just for a moment. **

**She looked up at me, "You need a coat. Your freezing. I noticed it today, are you one of those people they talk about"?**

**I stopped trying to imagine what she was going to say next. **

**"What kind of people"?**

**"You know cold hands warm heart". **

**I laughed " You don't know how far off you are". **

**We continued with our dance. She seemed to be lost in the music. I think the tune was called Moonlight Serenade. Very appropriate. Her human ears could not hear me purr. My empty chest was full for the first time in my existence. We shared our last moments of peace together. **

**Chapter 22**

**CPOV**

**Time stood still. Edward and I danced to Glen Miller. He was the best dancer!! He seemed to hold me like I was made of glass. My whole body felt like it was made of Jello. I was lost in his scent. If my life had been over at that moment, I knew in my heart I would die happy. He was every thing a man should be. Gentle, kind, thoughtful, strong, intelligent, and without a doubt ,extremely handsome. I had never met anyone in my life that could come close to the perfect man. I thought they only existed in books or movies. **

**But ---- could he possibly be what the gypsies said he was? Should I be afraid? Probably. What do they always say? If it's too good to be true, it usually is. All of these things ran through my thoughts while he twirled me around like the prince in Cinderella. Of course, everything that had happened since I arrived in Italy was like a fairytale. I decided that even if this fairytale turned into a horror story, I would see it through. As I came to my conclusion, the song ended and my pale prince stopped dancing and was looking at me with those golden eyes. My heart started beating out of my chest. I could tell he wanted to say or do something. He just couldn't decide. His face looked like he was in pain. **

**"What's wrong"?**

**He shook his head as if he was arguing with himself.**

**"Cookie, you are one of the bravest, beautiful, and confounding women I have ever met. If it was a different time, with different circumstances, I would have courted you. I would of liked nothing more than spending time with you and" ---- he stepped away from me and turned his back running his fingers through that bronze hair. **

**I walked up behind him and placed my hand on his arm. I felt his body stiffen. I stepped around him to see his face.**

**"I understand. We aren't in the best of circumstances. This isn't a very good time to "court". I laughed at the old fashioned word. **

**He smiled that crooked smile. **

**"Are you making fun of me"?**

**"No, I just haven't heard that word since my grandmother told me about meeting my grandfather. You should update your vocabulary."**

**"Maybe it's being here in Italy. Everything here seems to be ancient. From a time long ago. Yet, everything else seems to be rapidly changing. These tyrants that want nothing but power. They have so little concern about what they are destroying to get it." **

**We started walking back. It was time for my show. Then he stopped and turned to me.**

**"I will make sure you are safe. No matter what happens tonight, I will make sure you come out of this without being harmed. You will go home and live a long and happy life. I will see to it. This is my promise to you." He took my hand. I shivered at feeling the ice of his skin. He shut his eyes. Then he lifted my hand and kissed it. His lips were like stone and velvet at the same time. I decided then that Prince Charming was really a vampire – and that was as good of an explanation as anything else I could come up with. I smiled at him and stood on my toes – I leaned in slowly and kissed him on his cheek. **

**"Thank you" I waited for his reaction. **

**His other hand came swiftly up to the spot that I kissed. His eyes went from shocked, to confused, to grateful. Like I'd given him the best gift in the world. Yep, there it was. The kid on Christmas morning look. I loved that look!! I giggled and grabbed his hand. **

**"Okay twinkle toes, let's get this show on the road!" His velvet toned laughter filled the air. It's the first time I'd seen him look -- happy.**

**MyPOV**

**Wait a minute –********WAIT A MINUTE!!!****. I stopped my Mom right there. **

**"****Are you telling me that he was really a vampire? I mean you ****REALLY**** thought he was a vampire? Are you getting tired? I don't believe you. Come on Mom. You are just trying to freak me out – right?**

**My Mom giggled. -- Wait a minute ********MY MOM GIGGLED****! I've heard my Mom laugh, chuckle, every other version of laughing, and I've never, as far an I can remember, did she giggle like a teenager. But I had to say, my 90 year old mother was giggling like a 14 year old girl. **

**"All I can say for sure is I have never met anyone before or after him that was more of a fantasy version of a woman's dream come true as Edward. After that moment, I didn't care. He could have been anything you could imagine him to be. Vampire, or not, it didn't matter anymore. We were going to experience something together that no other man on earth -- human or not – could of accomplished. In the next 24 hours I would see things that will never be explained. Whether they were real or supernatural. Human or vampire. What happened -- well I remember it like it was yesterday. I know it was real". **

**I know my Mom. I know – she was dead serious. Even if she did just giggle.**

************************************************************************************

**Chapter 23**

**EPOV**

**As I walked Cookie toward the motordrome, I'm not sure of all the emotions I was feeling. Protective was the foremost, but then there was a few – what had I heard humans describe as "butterflies" in my stomach, I was totally confounded. I had never felt so – confused about my reaction to any human. SHE KISSED ME!! That was a first for me. Humans usually felt very uncomfortable around us. But Cookie, this confused girl, didn't seem to have any fear. Not that I wasn't surprised by her advances. It was very pleasing. It seems things were awakened in me that I thought were – for lack of a better word – dead. **

**I shook my head knowing I should focus on the upcoming events. I had no time for distractions. But if the circumstances were different --- get a hold of yourself. There is nothing that could make this possible. I'm dead she's alive. I cleared my head of this nonsense and walked her to her motordrome.**

**There was quite a large crowd gathered around. I was rather pleased that there was a big turnout for her show. Did I feel pride? I'm not sure. All I know was I was pleased that the local people were excited about seeing this amazing girl perform. **

**She stepped up to the first platform to stand by Chubby's cage. I'm sure that Niccoli's father didn't usually announce the shows. After all, he was the owner. But the occasion was not ordinary. Only a handful of us knew this would be her only performance in Italy.**

**He spoke loud and clear, you could tell he had a life time of experience. **

**"Ladies and Gentlemen, Come one come all to see the death defying, heart stopping Erylene! She will ride "The Wall of Death" alone with no protection with the king of the jungle—a woman eating lion. She will defy gravity, she will thrill and amaze you. Hurry and get your tickets. You will tell your children and grandchildren that you saw it with your own eyes! You only have ten minutes before the show. Look at this fragile girl. Will she survive? Hurry get your tickets and see for yourself."**

**I had to chuckle to myself after meeting Chubby. I'm not sure if Chubby should be introduced as a woman eating lion or an ice cream eating lion. ****Either way, from what I had seen, Chubby would rather lick Cookie than eat her.**

**I scanned the crowd with my mind trying to see if there was anything or anybody that was of any danger. That's when I heard something I didn't like. I looked around at where the thoughts were coming from and saw Captain Delano. **

**Just then Carlise, Emmit, Alice, & Rosalie joined me. I put the picture of what I was seeing in my mind to Alice who nodded her head. **

58


End file.
